Kanna's Story: Daughter of the North
by Redbayly
Summary: Kanna doesn't regret the choices she's made. She was always destined for something bigger than a life of playing happy, little homemaker to Pakku.


**Part I of what I hope will turn into a mini-series about Kanna's early life, before she became Gran-Gran. I had already posted a longer story of this sort before, but deleted it because it was not as good as I had hoped. Anyway, please enjoy, and I do not own anything from Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

Daughter of the North

The moon was full and the icy wind ripped across the frozen tundra of the North Pole. Nights such as this were considered sacred to the Water Tribes as they were seen to presage great things, including the births of children. Normally, Waterbenders of exceptional talent were born on such nights, but one child in particular had no Bending talent to speak of.

In a beautiful home of ice and snow, the sound of a newborn baby's cries could be heard. A man looked down at his wife and their baby girl and smiled. Never had there been such a beautiful child. Already, the man could sense a great future for his bloodline in this, his firstborn daughter. Kato didn't care that his child was a girl, as women were deemed second-class citizens in the North; all he cared about was that, despite his waning years, he had a child.

"What should we name her?" said his wife.

The man looked at the little girl and thought of the perfect name for her.

"Kanna. Her name shall be Kanna."

* * *

Kanna was a very active child. She didn't care that girls were not supposed to roughhouse or play warrior like boys did. Kanna, daughter of Kato and Unik, did what she wanted and damn the consequences. Kato didn't mind his daughter's "wild" behavior, no matter what the other members of the chief's council said.

"You are letting your wish for a son blind you to the fact that Kanna is a girl, Kato," said Head Warrior Tuuq.

"How I raise my child is none of your business, Tuuq," Kato snapped.

"It is when your careless attitude to your _daughter's_ role as a woman threatens to undermine the traditions of our tribe. The council will not accept such flagrant disrespect."

"Don't challenge me, _brother_. You may be head of the warriors, but you and I both know that I could beat you in a fight _any_ day."

Tuuq scowled and turned away. He had never gotten along well with Kato and believed he would ruin the family's reputation if he carried on in such a way.

* * *

Despite her disinclination to follow traditional roles for women, Kanna made friends with two girls who adhered to them almost entirely. Yugoda was a Waterbender, though was made to confine her talents to the Healing Huts, and Kanna's best friend. The second was Lucca, a prim and proper little girl with a smile that radiated sunshine. Kanna teased the two of them mercilessly, but they still followed her.

Other children tended to avoid Kanna because their parents said she was strange, always thinking, always dreaming. It was true, after all; Kanna talked about the world outside the tribe, of faraway lands that her parents read to her about in books. People told her that life outside the city was dangerous, what with the Fire Nation taking over. Years ago, the Fire Nation had even made an attempt on the North, only to be rebuked by the North's superior forces.

Kanna wondered what it was like to see a Firebender.

* * *

Kanna was four when her little sister was born. Little Tehya was Kanna's greatest treasure and favorite subject of curiosity. Tehya loved Kanna immensely and the two were inseparable throughout the rest of their childhood. Then, Tehya was discovered to be a Waterbender and things began to get difficult. Tehya showed remarkable skill at a young age and wanted to learn more than just Healing, but no matter how much their father pleaded with the council to make an exception, Tehya was ordered to the Healing Huts, her talent squandered.

"I hate it here!" Tehya shouted. "Everything's so unfair!"

"Life's not fair, sis," Kanna replied sourly. "Get used to it."

"I don't see why I can't learn Waterbending just 'cause I'm a girl."

"How do you think _I_ feel? I want to be a warrior, but there's no chance of that ever happening." Kanna irritably pitched the shirt she had been washing into the laundry pile and gave an annoyed grunt.

"Kanna," said a worried voice from the doorway. It was Yugoda, and she looked worried. "Misu didn't turn up to Healing practice today. I checked for her at her house, but both she and Rafa are gone."

"They'll turn up," Tehya replied. "Rafa was probably just out stealing something again and Misu just needed to go and tell him off. _Again_."

Over the next few days, people whispered that Misu had been taking Rafa to the tribe's Healers for something that none of them could fix. Though, what it was, no one could rightly say. Not long after that, brother and sister disappeared completely.

* * *

When Kanna reached her teen years, there was no denying she was a beauty. Several boys had made it clear they were interested in her, but one boy was particularly relentless in his pursuit. No matter where she went, Kanna always seemed to run into Pakku. If she didn't know better, Kanna would've thought he was stalking her. She found him to be sarcastic, obnoxious, narcissistic, completely sexist, rude, tactless, and an ego-maniac. Kanna could not for the life of her understand why other girls practically threw themselves at his feet; though she figured it was just because he was the most promising Waterbender in the tribe, as well as fairly wealthy, and not too hard on the eyes.

"Kanna!"

Kanna stopped and gave a frustrated sigh as she recognized the voice.

"What is it this time, Pakku?"

"I was just wondering if…you know…maybe…you'd want to…_goonadatewithme_," he said awkwardly.

Kanna raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry. _What?_"

"Ehem, I was just wondering if you'd like to go on a date with me." He gave an arrogant grin.

Kanna pulled a fish from her basket of groceries and chucked it at his face.

* * *

It was on the eve of Kanna's sixteenth birthday that things started going really downhill. Kanna's father was suffering declining health and now her uncle was putting the family under preassure again.

"You haven't even found a husband for your eldest daughter," Tuuq said over dinner. "The girl's behavior needs to be curbed and the only way to do that is to arrange a marriage to a respectable young man. I know that young Waterbender Pakku is interested in her for some reason." He threw a glare at Kanna. "Though I can't imagine why."

"Tuuq, you will not speak of my family in that manner," Kato shouted. "Kanna and Tehya are free to marry whomever they wish. When it comes to matters of the heart, I will not coerce my daughters."

"I won't let you ruin the dignity of our family, Kato! You haven't heard the last of this!"

Tuuq stormed out of the house in a rage. Soon enough, the family would find out just how true his threat rang.

* * *

The chieftain stared down at the family and Kanna felt a weight of dread fall into the pit of her stomach. She looked from her uncle to her father and then exchanged a worried glance with her mother and her sister.

"Honorable Kato," the chief began, "while I understand your wishes to ensure the happiness of your daughters, I must agree with Master Tuuq. Your disregard for traditions threatens the peace and security of our tribe. For the sake of your family, I place the guardianship of your daughters, Kanna and Tehya, into the hands of your brother and his wife. I am sorry to do this, but you have proven you cannot be trusted to raise your daughters according to their station in life."

Beside her, Kanna heard her mother break down into sobs.

That night, the last one she and Tehya would spend with their parents, their father died. The Healers said it was his weak heart, combined with a sudden attack of stroke. There had been no chance of his survival. Kanna knew it wouldn't have happened if their uncle hadn't decided to take them away.

* * *

Kanna and Tehya both hated living with their uncle and his family. At least their mother was allowed to move in in light of their father's death, but it was a small comfort as Unik barely spoke anymore. Their aunt was always complaining about their manners and trying to turn them into "proper young ladies" so they could find suitable husbands. If there was ever a boy Kanna hated more than Pakku, it was her cousin Sahn; every one of Pakku's faults seemed to be magnified ten times in that boy.

Kanna had no illusions about her fate. Her uncle had probably sat down to negotiate her betrothal to Pakku the night her father had died.

"It's for your own good, you know," he said when he announced it to the family. "Where else will you find a man willing to take you with all your defects?"

Kanna had scowled and made a decision to put ice-beetles in his soup when she was making dinner.

* * *

She tried to tell herself it wasn't going to be so bad as the two families gathered for the betrothal ceremony. Even when she exchanged a disheartened look with Tehya, she tried to reassure herself that there were probably worse men she could marry than Pakku. She repressed a shudder as Pakku slipped the choker around her neck, the intricately carved stone glinting in the firelight.

Pakku held her hand and smiled happily at her. It made her sick to her stomach, but not in an entirely unpleasant way. She tried to think that it was nerves or revulsion, but something in the back of her mind made her question what exactly it was she felt for the arrogant Waterbender.

"The law says that you will live separately for six months," the official said. "After that, the wedding ceremony will take place and the bride will move into her husband's house." He turned to Kanna. "You may consider yourself his wife now. In _all_ manner."

Kanna grudgingly nodded her head.

* * *

Pakku was behaving uncharacteristically like a gentleman. He didn't push or prod her. Too much anyway. Tehya said it's what's known as the "Honeymoon Phase" and would get even worse when the couple was _officially_ married. Kanna really did find it annoying that Pakku treated her like some fragile, porcelain doll. At least he wasn't pressing his role as her husband too often, even allowing her to sleep in her own room instead of demanding his "right" to share a bed with her.

Of course, it wasn't long until she found him sneaking into her room to sleep next to her, only to wake up before dawn and sneak out, pretending he hadn't been in there. Kanna thought it was strangely endearing, and only a _little_ bit creepy.

* * *

Kanna stood on one of the main bridges, looking up into the distance as she wondered. Wondered about life outside of the palatial prison that was her tribe. She wondered what life was life in the other nations, in the Earth Kingdom, in the Fire Nation, and, most of all, in the Southern Tribe. Did women have the same rights as men? Could women learn Bending if they wished? As she pondered all these things, she didn't notice Pakku walk up next to her.

"It's cold out tonight," he said.

"It's always cold," Kanna replied.

"Not if you're with someone, though." He scooted closer and put an arm around Kanna's shoulders.

Kanna scowled, refusing to admit she was thankful for the extra warmth his body exuded.

"Pakku, do you ever wonder what life's like out there?" Kanna asked. "You know, outside of the Northern Water Tribe?"

"Not particularly." He gave a slight shrug. "I'm perfectly happy here. I've got everything I could ever need right here, after all."

"Don't you think it's not fair that women can't learn Waterbending? I mean, they have as much of a right to learn."

Pakku tried to hide his discomfit with the topic. Truth be told, he didn't think women were smart or strong enough to learn Waterbending, but he wasn't about to say that to Kanna. He had fallen in love with her because, of all the women in the tribe, she was the most intelligent, the closest thing to an equal he had, and because she didn't worship the ground he walked on, something which both enticed and aggravated him. Plus, whenever he saw her, he got a tickling sensation in his stomach that made him uneasy and unable to communicate properly when she was around.

Kanna gave a sigh, interpreting his sentiments from his silence.

"Never mind," she muttered. Kanna thought over her life, her choices, and what she wanted. Right now, all she wanted was to feel something other than the deep void that threatened to consume her. "Pakku, if I say you can sleep in my room tonight, do you promise to keep your hands to yourself?"

Pakku's face lit up like it was solstice eve and nodded fervently.

* * *

As is often the case, a woman in a state of despair or depression will search for some form of diversion, something to make her feel less like she has no purpose in life other than to be a homemaker. Two nights after Kanna first let Pakku sleep in her room, things got a little more intimate than she had intended.

The following morning, she went about her chores feeling tired and more than a little bit sore, plus she had to lie to her family about any noises they had heard, though Kanna suspected Tehya knew what had gone on if her look of utter betrayal was anything to go by. Kanna's suspicions were confirmed when Tehya accosted Kanna as soon as she entered the kitchen that evening to start work on dinner.

"You can't lie to me, you know," Tehya said. "Intestinal distress? Really, Kanna, that is the worst excuse for what went on last night and the only reason why Uncle believed it is because he, like pretty much every other thing with a penis in this tribe, is a complete idiot. Admit it, Kanna, you and Pakku were-" Kanna slapped a hand over her sister's mouth.

"Fine, yes. Don't go shouting it about, though. Do you have any idea how embarrassing this is for me? I don't even like the idiot!"

Tehya glared at her sister as she pulled her hand away.

"You don't 'like' him and yet you let him in your room? Kanna, I thought we both agreed that we would never even let the husbands that uncle chooses so much as _touch_ us. I can't even talk to you, anymore." Tehya turned her back on her sister and crossed her arms defiantly.

Kanna, though she was the oldest and almost eighteen at that point as the betrothal ceremony had taken place on her seventeenth birthday (her uncle's idea of a birthday present), was almost a head shorter than her sister. Thirteen-year-old Tehya seemed to tower over her in that moment as her words cut Kanna even further down.

"I'm sorry you feel like this, Tehya," Kanna said at last. "But, I should tell you, I don't regret what I did, and you can't make me feel bad for wanting something to take away the pain from my life. So don't judge me, Tehya. Don't you _dare_ judge me."

Kanna stormed out of the kitchen. That would be the last time she spoke to her sister for decades.

* * *

It was two months before the wedding and Kanna knew she wouldn't be there to see it. Even as Yugoda and Lucca made her try on wedding dresses, she was planning her escape. She glanced at the necklace on Lucca's throat; the girl had been engaged to the chief's son of all people and Kanna had never felt more disgusted, except perhaps at her own engagement ceremony. Thoughts buzzed about her head like angry bumble-flies, stinging her brain with times, places, and means. Her father's old kayak was secured in their hidden fishing spot and she had enough supplies to last her several weeks.

Kanna told Pakku she wanted to be alone that night. Inside, she was broken up at the thought of hurting him, though she wasn't sure why. She kept telling herself that he'd find someone else, someone willing to play happy housewife and pamper his vanity. Yes, he would get over the loss and she could live the life she wanted. She brushed off the nagging doubt that lingered in the back of her head as she snuck out of the house; an easy feat, considering how her family was composed of the heaviest sleepers in the entire tribe.

* * *

The moon was full that night and an icy wind nipped at her cheeks. Shivering, Kanna pulled the hood of her parka up and cast off in her little kayak. She was thankful for all the times her father had taken her fishing, and occasionally even turtle-seal hunting, because the results were excellent upper-arm strength that many men would covet.

She looked back only once at the great walls of the city, catching a glimpse of the emblem on the gate. She turned away and continued rowing.


End file.
